Can 12 weeks change your life? An Olympian and his son are put to the test

The fickle hand of COVID-related fame has been good to Dr Nick Coatsworth. Whereas some government officials became polarising figures during the pandemic, and others remain a reminder of the dark days of lockdown, the former deputy chief medical officer has stayed in the spotlight as a television medical expert, appearing on The Project, Q+A, Sunrise, 7.30 and Sky News’ Credlin.

But it was in 2022, after telling Nine’s Today show hosts Karl Stefanovic and Ally Langdon that he suffers from post-traumatic stress following a stint in Darfur with Doctors Without Borders, that Coatsworth realised his media potential.

“Every media outlet gave a lot of respect to all of the chief health officers, but I got a lot of time on the Today show,” Coatsworth says. “So when the pandemic died down, I said I thought we had a really positive interaction, and that’s when it all started.”

His pitch to Nine for a longevity science series was a success. He now provides medical expertise exclusively for the network and is the co-host, along with Tracy Grimshaw, of Do You Want to Live Forever? ”The novelty here is taking ordinary Aussies – some of whom are very well known – and seeing if we can make an impact in 12 weeks,” Coatsworth explains.

In a 12-week program designed to reduce the risk factors for premature death, Olympic swimmer and heart attack survivor Duncan Armstrong, 55, and his son Tom, 32, are joined by The Block sisters Eliza, 38, and Liberty Paschke, 35, a NSW couple in their 50s who smoke and have excessive alcohol consumption, and a Victorian couple in their 20s with an over-reliance on energy drinks.

Under medical supervision, they undergo traditional and alternative treatments, adopt exercise plans, follow diets, take up stress-reducing activities, and explore health interventions, all designed to address the “four pillars of longevity”: exercise, diet, sleep and stress.

In the series, Duncan Armstrong, who underwent triple bypass surgery three years ago, says: “This box of family history, you can’t negotiate with … Because of my early success as an elite athlete, I thought I was invincible. Tommy might find a time bomb out of this testing.”

Coatsworth and Grimshaw track the participants’ progress, and present separate investigative segments. The infectious diseases doctor visits Okinawa in Japan, a “blue zone”, or geographical area with a healthy, long-living population, while the former A Current Affair anchor travels to the US and Mexico to interview wealthy “bio-hackers”, who go to extremes to optimise their cellular nutrition.